Construction for brush or the like



Feb. 19, 1957 Filed Nov. 24, 1954 A. L. LE FEBVRE ET AL 2,781,537

CONSTRUCTION FOR BRUSH OR THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR;

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Feb. 19, 1957 A. 1.. LE FEBVRE HAL 2,781,537

CONSTRUCTION FOR BRUSH- 0R THE LIKE Filed Nov. 24, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 5 1 .5. 1% I f ff u I I v 1 1 I, ,i J i zlfi i la United States Patent CONSTRUCTION FOR BRUSH OR THE LIKE Alfred L. Le Febvre, Southwick, and Herbert D. Rice, Westfield, Mass., assignors to Stanley Home Products, Inc., Easthampton, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application November 24, 1954, Serial No. 470,989

3 Claims,- (Cl. 15-146) This invention relates to-improvement in construction for a brush or the like and is directed more particularly tov means for connecting a handle to the support of a brush or the like.

According to novel features of the invention a construction is provided whereby a support for a brush is connected to ahandle. It will be understood that while reference is made to a brush the novel features are as well adapted for a mop, broom or the like.

According to one feature of the invention a support for a brush. is provided with a connector with which a hollow handle is engaged without the use of tools or parts which must be manipulated to accomplish the connection of the support and handle.

In a general way an elongated connector is fixed to and extends from the support and is transversely yieldable and provided with means engageable by a handle for conne in the pp rt nd hand e- It has been found by providing thread means in cooperation with the yieldability of the connector that the handle and support may be readily and easily connected without liability of unwanted separation and particularly where as according to the invention there is a wedging action between the connector and handle.

To obviate the necessity of hand manipulated parts in order to connect a handle and connector said connector is a unitary device formed from sheet metal which is simple in form for efiicient operation and low cost manufacture.

All of the above cited objects I accomplish by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts thereof, as will fully appear by a perusal of the description below and by various specific features which will be hereinafter set forth.

To these above and other ends and with the foregoing and various other and ancillary features and advantages and objects of my invention as will become more readily apparent as the description proceeds, my invention consists in certain features of novelty, in a mode of operation, and in the combination, organization, and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more particularly pointed out in the claims hereunto annexed and more fully described and referred to in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. l is a plan view of a sheet metal blank for forming the connector of the invention;

Figs. 2 and 3 are side elevational and plan views of the connector formed from the blank of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view through a support for a brush and having a connector of the invention fixed thereto;

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of a brush construction embodying the features of the invention;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged vertical sectional view showing the connection between the support, connector, and support; and

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Fig. 7 is a side elevational view of another form of connector.

Referring now to the drawings in detail the novel features of the invention will be fully described.

A sheet metal blank for forming into a connector is shown at 2 in Fig. 1. Said blank has an upper end wall 4, side arm portions 6 extending therefrom, and flange or wing portions 8 extending from the ends of the arms. Opposite longitudinal edges of the blank are provided with notches i0 and 12 which are formed to facilitate relative bending and forming of the parts.

The blank is formed by suitable operations into a connector such as 20 in Figs. 2 and 3 and in such a manner as to provide a screw thread 14, a neck 16 and a shoulder 18 with the flanges or wings 8 disposed transversely relative to the side arms 6. The side arms are of channel formation in cross section and are transversely yieldable. Inner sides of the side arms are spaced apart slightly to allow the arms to yield.

Outer sides of the connector may converge from the wings and said outer sides may be slightly convex for the wedging action as will appear.

A support 20 is shown in the form of a housing having an upper wall 22, side walls 24 and end walls 26. A resilient bumper 28 is provided around the lower edge of the housing.

A holder 30 is shown within the housing 20 in Fig. 5 and may be the holder of a brush having bristles 52 extending therefrom. The holder in one way is secured in the housing by screws 34 extending through holes 26 in the wall 22. The holder of course may be secured in the supporting housing in any well known manner.

The holder may be that ofa mop and carry yarns or other materials and of course the housing and holder may be of any desired dimensions. Thus the support may be that of a brush, mop or other implement.

The support or wall 22 thereof is provided with an opening surrounded by a lip 40 which extends upwardly from said wall in converging relation, as shown.

The connector 20 extends upwardly within the lip 40 and the wings 8 thereof are fixed to the inner side of the support wall by brazing, welding, riveting or in any suitable manner so that the support and connector are in tegral.

An elongated handle 42 preferably of thin walled tubing has a lower end 44 for screwing onto the connector and is provided with inwardly displaced portions 46 for engaging between the convolutions of the thread of the connector. The lower end of the handle 46 engages the lip 40 of the support, as shown, so as to act with a wedging action to hold the handle and connector against unwanted separation.

The side arrns being yieldable the wedging action is enhanced and slightly tapering and/ or convexing the sides of the connector further enhance the desired wedging of the handle and connector since the wall of the handle may yield slightly.

It will be noted that the upper end of the lip 40 is disposed in the neck 16 of the connector and against the shoulder to support and strengthen the connector and engagement of the parts.

The handle may have a grip 50 on its outer end and the handle may be of any desired length. Where the handle is of a long length 30 or 40 inches or so it may be made in sections to facilitate packaging to occupy small space.

A connector 54- as in Fig. 7 is similar to that described with the longitudinal axis disposed angularly relative to the Wings 56. This connector is provided with a thread 58, is tapering as shown and provided with a shoulder 60 engageably by the end of a handle to provide the wedging action. With said connector secured to a support the handle is connected thereto at an angle as is desired in connection with some brushes, mops, brooms or the like.

While we have illustrated and described the invention as embodied in a specific arrangement, we do not intend to be limited to the details shown since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of my invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention, and therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims below.

What it is desired to claim and secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A device for connecting a brush support to the end of a tubular handle having an internal screw thread at lower end thereof comprising in combination, a connection formed from a single strip of relatively thin and resilient metal to have an'upper transverse end wall and elongated side arms and fiat unconnected lower wings, said side arms at upper ends thereof and opposite sides of said upper wall having connections therebetween and said arms depending vertically in parallel adjacency from said upper wall, said side arms at lower ends thereof and inner ends of the wings being connected by neck portions, said wings extending outwardly relative to said side arms transversely to a vertical plane extending vertically between said side arms and being disposed in horizontal planes, said side arms and neck portions being semi-circular in transverse cross-section and said arms being formed with a screw thread for engaging the internal threads of a hollow handle, inner longitudinal edges of said side arms being normally slightly spaced apart and the connections between said side arms and upper wall being arranged whereby said side arms may yield inwardly towards one another.

2. A device set forth in claim 1 wherein said neck portions of the connector relatively converge upwardly from said wings to said side arms.

3. Connecting means for the internally threaded lower end of a tubular handle and a sheet metal brush support having an upper wall comprising in combination, said brush support upper wall formed to have a portion extending upwardly therefrom in the form of a hollow tube provided with an upwardly converging wall for engagement by the end of a tubular handle, a connector formed from relatively thin resilient metal to have an upper wall and elongated side arms semicircular in transverse cross-section depending in adjacency therefrom provided with neck portions at lower ends thereof extending through said tube and with wings at lower ends of said neck portions disposed below and secured to the upper wall of said support, said side arms being externally screw threaded for engagement with the internally threaded end of a hollow handle and adjacent inner edges of said arms being normally spaced whereby with said arms in threaded engagement with the threads of a hollow handle and the end of said handle in engagement with the converging wall of the support said side arm may yield towards one another.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,099,858 Pendergast June 9, 1914 1,281,883 Toof Oct. 15, 1918 1,874,381 Stone Aug. 30, 1932 2,116,375 Aubitz May 3, 1938 2,141,336 Bailey Dec. 27, 1938 

